Yarn Along - Wildflowers Cardigan, Week 2

Greetings! Obviously one of favorite things is reading, but I also quite love knitting. Ginny over at Small Things hosts a lovely little link-up so once you're done here go visit and see what everyone else is up to.

 

Week 2 of the Wildflowers Cardigan looks like this:

Maybe someday I'll get decent light in my living room so my pictures suck less...

That's 49 rows of stockinette, people! 10 inches! I've been averaging 10-20 rows a night when I put on my serious face and buckle down on it (which has been about 5 nights out of 7 in the last 2 weeks, so not bad). Tomorrow we meet for our 3rd official session at Karen's and I plan to either start decreasing for armholes then or by Saturday morning at the latest.

I had to do a bit of tinking on Saturday (so frustrating!) but by Sunday I was back on track and realized I should've been putting lifelines in every 20 rows but I wasn't. Don't worry - there are a bunch of lifelines in, now. It's a little time-consuming but I'd rather take the time to put them in rather than have to rip back farther than absolutely necessary if catastrophe strikes later.

Reading:

Since I've been really putting my nose to the knitting I haven't been reading a whole lot in the evenings, though I am still getting about 2 chapters in right before bed on The Kings of Clonmel, the next book in Ranger's Apprentice. This is the 2nd book in the series that's completely new to me so it's very exciting to be on this new adventure; my dreams are certainly more interesting. 

But for knitting, I need to listen to something, and I realized while babysitting last Friday night that I downloaded but failed to listen to Sarah Mackenzie's podcasts of the Read Aloud Revival. Guys, they are so, so good. These podcasts are so inspiring and encouraging.  Even without kids of my own, as an adult who wants a little extra something intellectually now that I'm out of school I'm finding so much inspiration to start reading challenging or different books without the intimidation factor looming large. It's hard to explain but if you like books at all you should absolutely go and at least listen to episode 1. 

If you want to know what else I've got on my needles, head on over to my Ravelry page for a look-see.

That's it for me today.  What have you been knitting and reading lately? Let me know in comments and then head over to Ginny's to see what everyone else is up to!

Love, 

Willow

*Author's Note: The Yarn Along button in this post is property of Ginny Sheller and is used with permission. All other images used in this post as well as text are (c)Whitney Miller and may be used only with my express permission. See my About Page for details.*

52 Lists, Week 3

Happy Monday! Welcome to my 52 Lists Project, wherein I feature one list every week for 2015. To join in with your own list, scroll down to the link at the bottom, print out your own list, and then share it however you wish!

Week 3: List the Things You Should Be Proud Of

This list is always difficult for me because when I look at my life in a "big picture" kind of way, I don't see much that's changed since I left school and became a secretary. But when I look closer, especially at the last few months and weeks, I see some changes I've implemented and I'm really proud of the progress I've made.

• my job
• teaching Confirmation
• I was brave and gave online dating a try
• I'm managing my anxiety better than ever
• I've managed my money well enough that I can afford rent and all of my bills/student loans and still put a little bit of money in my savings account each month
• I'm eating really healthy right now (I still don't like quinoa but I'm eating it anyway)
• I've been getting up early and getting to work earlier
• I've been exercising more regularly
• I've made a cleaning schedule and stuck to it
• I'm reading more this year
• I'm keeping myself better organized and sticking to my plans better
• I'm writing more - both on the blog and in my personal journals
• my progress on my Wildflowers Cardigan
• my pretty good relationship with both my sisters
  

So there you have it! They seem kind of small, but for now I'm quite pleased with myself and these little things. I should also add that I have made my bed almost every single day of 2015 (I skip the occasional weekend morning) and I'm proud of that, too.

What are you proud of? What goals have you met or started to make progress on? Let me know in comments or with a list of your own!

Hope you have a lovely Monday...

Love,

Willow

For more fun with 52 Lists, click down on "52 Lists" in the little categories section at the bottom of the post, and go over to Moorea Seal's site to see more!

Check out Moorea Seal's entire project at her blog below:
http://www.moorea-seal.com/p/52-lists.html  

 

Yarn Along - Wildflowers Cardigan

Greetings! Obviously one of favorite things is reading, but I also quite love knitting. Ginny over at Small Things hosts a lovely little link-up so once you're done here go visit and see what everyone else is up to.

Here we are, week 1 of my Wildflowers cardigan. Karen, Jaimie, Therese, Lorene, and I are finally on our way to making this lovely cardigan from Coastal Knits. We started choosing yarns and swatching for gauge back in December, shortly before Christmas. We gave our gauge swatches to dear Karen who kindly helped us figure out what size needles and what size of the pattern we would need to work to achieve our desired size cardigan. Then we met up last Friday night to cast on and get to work. 

I cheated a little by casting on some of my 222 stitches the night before (in my defense, I can't count worth anything so I knew I'd need to count and count and count again once I'd cast on), and I also started knitting one of my pocket linings. The others got their stitches cast on and we began working on the edge since the sweater is bottom-up. 

Someday I'll take better photos

The edging. Oh my goodness. It's one of those things where you have to count very carefully and put your wine down and focus and shush the people around you. It's not difficult but it required a great deal of focus. It also required me to completely rip out what I'd done and start over.

We met up on Saturday afternoon to finish the edging (which I'd caught up to that morning), put in a lifeline, and confirm our meeting schedule. We intend to be finished by April 30th. I've got a lot more knitting to do...

This is what 31 finished rows looks like. 123 rows to go...

The yarn is a new line my LYS is carrying: Berroco's Folio is a DK/sport weight yarn that's baby alpaca and rayon and while it's working up a little fuzzier than I'd really like, it feels good running through my fingers, isn't too splitty, and looks like it will have gorgeous drape when I'm done. I'll let you know in April if it was worth the money.

So last week I talked about Thrift Books and how much I love them, right? Well three more books in the Ranger's Apprentice series came yesterday so I spent more of my evening reading instead of knitting. I finished The Sorcerer of the North in a little less than 3 hours. This was partly because I'd read it before, and partly because it's not a very long book. Then I started reading The Siege of Macindaw but forced myself to quit after about 13 chapters because I had a headache and was very sleepy. I need to come up with a system that allows me to read a chapter for every 4 or 5 rows I knit, otherwise I won't finish my cardigan or my reading list.

The first three in the series - gorgeous hardcovers!

If you want to know what else I've got on my needles, head on over to my Ravelry page for a look-see.

That's it for me today.  What have you been knitting and reading lately? Let me know in comments and then head over to Ginny's to see what everyone else is up to!

Love, 

Willow

*Author's Note: The Yarn Along button in this post is property of Ginny Sheller and is used with permission. All other images used in this post as well as text are (c)Whitney Miller and may be used only with my express permission. See my About Page for details.*

52 Lists, Week 2

Happy Monday! Welcome to my 52 Lists Project, wherein I feature one list every week for 2015. To join in with your own list, scroll down to the link at the bottom, print out your own list, and then share it however you wish!

Week 2: List Your Greatest Comforts
 Ahhh, comfort. After a long, stressful day at work or an exhausting argument with my mother, or a frustrating conversation with my sisters, sometimes the only thing I want to do is go home and indulge in one of my self-soothing methods, like a hot bath or a cup of tea. Here's my list of comfies:

~Gatsby kitten-cuddles ~Christmas food ~warm tea ~my Oma quilt ~candles

~saying the Rosary ~hot baths ~long, quiet, night drives ~knitting

~coffee ~coconut oil lotion ~rose gardens ~sunny spring walks ~pajamas

~Denny's with old friends ~jacaranda blooms ~hugs from just the right person ~bare feet

~getting letters ~someone else cooking for me ~listening to Bon Iver or The Weepies

~reading YA novels ~reading poetry ~Jane Austen ~audiobooks ~Harry Potter marathons

~Doctor Who reruns ~having houseplants ~going to church ~keeping a journal

~singing in the car ~giving gifts ~playing piano ~sewing ~fresh flowers

 

someday I will take not-terrible pictures

This list is far from exhaustive, but it's a good idea of the things that bring me comfort. What are the things that bring you comfort and solace? Let me know in comments or with your own list!

Hope you have a lovely Monday...

Love,

Willow

For more fun with 52 Lists, click down on "52 Lists" in the little categories section at the bottom of the post, and go over to Moorea Seal's site to see more!

Check out Moorea Seal's entire project at her blog below:
http://www.moorea-seal.com/p/52-lists.html   

Pinteresting, Vol. 11

Happy Friday and welcome to Pinteresting! The part of the show where I roundup my favorite pins from this week and share them with the world. I pin recipes, decorating ideas, religious stuff, teaching thoughts, funny stuff from Tumblr, kids' activities, crafting ideas, knitting/crochet patterns, and cute cat pictures.


1) 

Spinach Balls

 Don't these look yummy? The recipe calls for seasoned stuffing mix, but since I'm not a huge fan of stuffing (it's great for Thanksgiving, but past that - no thank you) I may substitute breadcrumbs or crushed seasoned croutons instead. These look like a nice little snack for having people 'round when you don't want to make it a dinner party.

2)

This List

I like this list. It's pretty simple but it's still a good list of little things to make your life better. This list is something I try to incorporate with my New Year's Resolutions of being happier, healthier, and more organized.

3) 

About That Star

Click through and read this article by Mary at Better Than Eden. It's simple and beautiful and lovely and made me sit at my desk for a few minutes and think. It's just really good. Go read it and then let's all be stars, okay?

4) 

Dumbledore's Hiring Practices

 Sometimes I come across funny Hogwarts headcanons and they remind me how much I love the Harry Potter fandom (which is clearly still alive and well!). Looking back at the series you have to wonder how on earth Dumbledore rationalized hiring the buffoon that was Lockhart - this gives us a possible explanation.

5)

Fox Hooded Cowl

So Julie at Knitted Bliss was doing a January sponsors show-&-tell and one of them designs patterns for people from babies to grown ups (have you ever seen a kids' pattern you longed for in your size? me too) and my favorites are the little hooded cowls. They look so warm and cozy! And adorable! Go look.
     Also, these patterns make me wish I lived somewhere cold and snowy so I could wear these. It's not quite cold enough here in sunny SoCal. Our "cold snap" over the holidays had nighttime temps dropping to the high 30s whereas in Vermont right now the temperature is a whopping 18 F. Yikes!

6) 

Avocado Pesto Pasta

Doesn't this look delish? I love avocados, even though they're more expensive off-season. I'm not sure I'd even use this for pasta sauce; I might just cut the recipe in half and use it as a spread on a quinoa-asparagus wrap with cherry tomatoes. Mmmm...

That's it for this week's edition of Pinteresting! I always enjoy curating my favorite, most recent pins. If you're not currently on Pinterest, make sure you take a moment to say goodbye to your loved ones before you log on, because there's no going back! You can follow me on Pinterest (any or all of my boards, find your cup of tea) HERE. Happy weekend!

love,

Willow

P.S. What do you guys think about my new blog design? I'm still tweaking it a bit, but I think it's a lot easier to read than the old one and maybe a little more viewer-friendly? I'd love to hear some feedback in comments.

**Author's Note: None of the images in this post are my property. I have borrowed them from Pinterest and made my best effort to ensure that the Pinterest pages linked to link to an original source. If you see your work here and want it taken down please see my About page and contact me. Thank you for not suing.**

Yarn Along - "I Left my Heart in Hogsmeade" Cowl

Greetings! Obviously one of favorite things is reading, but I also quite love knitting. Ginny over at Small Things hosts a lovely little link-up so once you're done here go visit and see what everyone else is up to.

This week, in knitting news, I've started working on yet another cables & eyelets cowl, this time for myself. I initially intended to use this yarn to knit up a hat to go with my cousin's Christmas cowl but I instead decided to keep it for myself.  The yarn is super soft and knits up really nicely and feels a little bit heavier than a worsted weight but every time I say that people assure me that it's not.

 Ravelry Page

The yarn is simplinatural by HiKoo. It's baby alpaca and merino wool with a bit of mulberry silk mixed in. Basically this yarn is delicious. And the name of the color is "Camel" and I like that it's a natural feeling color. I love bright yarns but something with as much texture as this cowl usually gets (with the cables and lace) it needs something a bit more neutral.

I'm using size 5 needles so the yarn is knitting up nice and dense (but not so dense that I'm having a hard time working with it).

Reading:
I recently discovered Thrift Books through a blogger on Tumblr (can't remember who, though - sorry!) and successfully ordered a bunch of hardcover YA novels for less than $4 EACH. Is that freaking amazing or what??? So I've begun re-reading The Ranger's Apprentice series since the series wasn't complete when I stopped working at the bookstore, so I didn't get to finish reading it for free. 

You can read my brief review of the first book in the series HERE.

But even more exciting (really, Willow? What's more exciting than inexpensive, gently used hardcovers!?), on Friday night we start working on the Wildflower Cardigan. When I say "we" I mean me, Jaimie, Karen, Therese, and Lorene. I'm so excited! Jaimie and I have been longing to do this cardigan for almost two years and now we're finally going to start! I'll post all about it next week...

If you want to know what else I've got on my needles, head on over to my Ravelry page for a look-see.

That's it for me today. What have you been knitting and reading lately? Let me know in comments and then head over to Ginny's to see what everyone else is up to!

Love,

Willow

 

*Author's Note: The Yarn Along button in this post is property of Ginny Sheller and is used with permission. All other images used in this post as well as text are (c)Whitney Miller and may be used only with my express permission. See my About Page for details.*

**Also, I once again apologize if the font in this post doesn't match the font in my other posts. There is something seriously wonky with my template and I'm still trying to figure it out/fix it. Sorry if it's irritating!**

52 Lists, Week 1

Happy New Year!!!!!!!


You may (or may not) recall that last year I attempted to participate in the 52 Lists Project. However, the person behind the project abandoned it after Week 20 - less than halfway through the year. So I, too, abandoned the project. But now I'm back for a new year and I've created my own lists to supplement the second half of the year. My goal is to post on Mondays, since there are exactly 52 Mondays in 2015. I could have done Fridays, but that's when we do Pinteresting so Mondays are the plan.

Week 1: List the Words that Touch Your Soul

Most of the words on this list are the same as they were last year, with a few additions. I love words in general, but here are some of my current favorites:

+thrill      + Gatsby      +agape     +whiskers      +sift      +beloved       +stars      +fantasy      +solemn

+castle      +oceans      +imagination     +wonderful       +blossom    +whisper      +susurrous

+petrichor       +infinity      +embroider       +delight    +subversive     +wishes      +sacred      +wifty

+watercolor      +dignity      +hypergraphia        +compassion      +elsewhere      +scripturient

+luscious       +darling         +fathom         +desire        +madness       +seduce     +quiet

+light      +constellation

There you have it, my 39 favorite words as of right this second. 

You can visit HERE to get a list of your own! Some people do their lists in notebooks, scrapbooks, Flikr photos, etc., but you do you!

What are some of your favorite words? Let me know in comments!

Happy 2015, lovelies....

Love,

Willow

For more fun with 52 Lists, click down on "52 Lists" in the little categories section at the bottom of the post, and go over to Moorea Seal's site to see more!

Check out Moorea Seal's entire project at her blog below:
http://www.moorea-seal.com/p/52-lists.html